LG OLED G7 (G7P) vs OLED E7 (E7P) Review (OLED65G7P vs OLED65E7P)

LG OLED G7 and OLED E7 are part of LG’s 2017 4K HDR LED TV lineup. Both of them equally come with a design named “Picture on Glass” where their main panel is seat on a sheet of glass, makes both of them are including the slimmest TV in 2017. With ultra thin border, from the front, the TV looks minimalism. Additionally, combined to a built-in sound bar with radiator-style grill at the bottom of the panel, both of them look luxurious in your home. In the market, both LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 equally come with 2 screen size options, but the difference, OLED E7 is available with 55 Inch (OLED55E7P) and 65 inch (OLED65E7P), while OLED G7 comes with 65 inch (OLED65E7P) and 77 Inch (OLED77G7P). With the same screen size, for this case 65 inch, OLED65G7P is sold more than a thousand dollar more expensive than OLED65E7P. SO, what are the advantages offered by OLED G7 so it is sold far more expensive than OLED E7 and refer to price/value, which one is a better choice between them?

Technologies and Features of LG OLED G7 and OLED E7

As we see on comparison table above, there is almost no difference in specs between LG OLED E7 and G7. In addition to OLED panel which make both of them have infinitive contrast ratio and perfect black, both of them are also powered by similar technologies and have similar features. For maximizing its peak luminance, both of them are equally powered by Ultra Luminance technology. Meanwhile, for delivering excellent rendition of colors, in addition to they use RGBW sub-pixel, they are also equally powered by Tru Color Accuracy. Combination of these technologies makes each aspect of picture quality produced by OLED G7 and E7 are strong, result in superb picture quality on their screen. The other major advantage then LED TV that offered by them as OLED TV, the picture displayed on their screen will look excellent not just from the center and front, but also from any angle due they have excellent side viewing angle.

Coming with HDR technology, both of them are also powered by the same HDR processor and also support the same HDR formats. As their HDR engine, both of LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 are powered by Active HDR format that already supports most of HDR formats including HDR 10 by UHD Alliance, HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) by BBC and NHK, Dolby Vision by Dolby Laboratories, or even Advanced HDR by Technicolor. This allows you to enjoy HDR movies with more HDR formats option than most of HDR TV which available in the market. Special for HDR 10, both of them are equally certified by Ultra HD Premium Certification that means they are able to show HDR 10 images fully like what recommended by UHD alliance as the developer of HDR 10 format. Additionally, for allowing you to enjoy non 4K contents in 4K quality sharply and clearly, both LG OLED G7 and OLED E7 equally have great 4K Up-scaling engine named “Tru 4K up-Scaler. Not even just that, with a feature named “HDR effect, they are not only able to up-convert non 4K videos to nearly 4K resolution, but also improve their brightness and color range, so you can enjoy any content with the quality as close as possible to 4K HDR.

Meanwhile, both LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 also can do a great job when handling motion blur of fast moving contents. This allows you to enjoy your favorite sports or fast movies smoothly and clearly with virtually no motion blur. When playing movies, they are also able to remove the judder, no matter the frame rate of the movies. LG OLED G7 and OLED E7 also have excellent input lags, allows both of them are very comfortable when used for playing games. That is not less interesting is about WebOS 3.5 as their smart TV platform where we already known, it is one of the best smart TV platform that offer simple, attractive, and responsive smart TV experience. And for allowing you to enjoy 4K HDR performance with impressive sound performance without adding external sound-bar, both of them equally equipped with 4.2 channel built-in Sub-woofer.

The difference between LG OLED E7 and OLED G7

Design

Although both LG OLED G7 and OLED E7 equally bring “Picture on Glass” concept, but there some aspects that make them is different. The excepting of the bottom of the screen, from the front, they look similar. Their border is just a few millimeters thin with outer edge is transparent and the inner edge is black. From the front, they look very minimalist. Additionally, on the bottom of the screen, there is also a built-in sound bar with radiator-style grill on both. A bit difference between them is about their pedestal that supports their panel. On OLED E7, at the bottom center of the sound bar, there is a stand serve as the pedestal when the TV is seat on the table, while when mounted on the wheel, this stand can be removed. On the other hand, on the OLED G7, the sound bar acts as the main pedestal and sits directly on the table without a stand. And for allowing this TV can be mounted on the wall, the sound bar can be folded.

Meanwhile, when viewed from the side and back, about two-thirds of the top, the might look similar where they looks extremely thin due the main panel is mounted onto a sheet of glass. But at one-third bottom, you will look their difference. On the OLED E7, there is a thin box mounted across at the one-third bottom the main panel where its length is only a bit shorter than the main panel. In here, all electronics component and inputs outputs are placed. Additionally, the width of the sound bar under the box is also almost similar with the box above. On the other hand, on OLED G7, a box behind the panel only has a length about two-thirds of the main panel that serves as the support of the panel, while all electronics and inputs/outputs are located on the sound-bar box. Additionally, since the sound bar also acts as the pedestal and a place where all electronics and inputs/outputs are located, its width is far wider than the box above and from the side, it looks prominent to the back.

Sound Bar

As we see on comparison above, for 65 inch (OLED65G7P vs OLED65E7P, both of them might have the same channel and sound output that is 4.2 channel with 60 watts of total sound output. But even so, on the sound bar of OLED G7, there is an additional woofer that makes its low-end frequencies or bass heard more steady and impressive than OLED E7.

LG OLED G7 vs OLED E7 Performance

Picture Quality

Although LG OLED G7 (OLED65G7P) is priced more than a hundred dollar more expensive than OLED E7 (OLED65E7P), but their picture quality and performance are not much different, even can be said similar. Both of them equally have infinite contrast and perfect black level due their OLED panel has individually self-lighting sub pixel. Since each of their pixels can switch on/off/dim individually without affected by the condition of other pixel surrounding, this certainly makes their screen doesn’t emit a light at all when showing totally black, result in perfect black level and black uniformity. This certainly also makes their dark room performance is excellent. As we know, the impact that caused by the depth of black is very sensitive in a dark room. The TV with black level is not too deep or contrast ratio is not a strong, in a dark room, black that produced will tend to look gray than really black. Meanwhile, with perfect black level and excellent black uniformity, black of image displayed on their screen look excellent. Additionally, since both of LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 have perfect black, this also makes both can show darker colors or even extremely darker colors fairly accurate. On the other hand, when showing HDR images, their black is also more than enough to reveal details of images in dark scene or shadow, make shadow details of HDR images displayed on their screen look excellent like the intended. In essence, both LG OLED G7 and OLED G7 do an excellent job when anything to do with the dark color.

While both LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 has perfect black level and infinite native contrast ratio, their peak luminance cannot match what reached by premium LED TV like Sony X930E or Samsung Q9F. Nevertheless, for OLED TV, what reached by them can be said excellent and there is an improvement over last year model. When inputted by SDR signal, their peak brightness is quite bright to dampen the glare in a bright room, make the picture displayed on their screen looks remain amazing when set in a bright environment. But even so, when set in an extremely bright room or a room with sunlight through the window, their peak brightness may still less bright to maintain the quality of the picture. Meanwhile, when inputted by HDR, both OLED G7 and OLED E7 can reach far brighter peak luminance. With about 750 nits of peak brightness, this actually is also quite bright to show highlight of HDR images, particularly HDR10 image like what recommended by UHD alliance. As we know, to show highlight of HDR 10 image like the intended, a HDR TV must have at least 550 nits of peak brightness. But even so, it is still not quite bright to show highlight of HDR images as bright as where HDR contents are usually mastered. Their performance certainly is not as great as premium LED TV like Sony X930E or Samsung Q9F that can reach peak brightness up to 1500 nits. Overall, peak brightness of LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 is great for OLED TV, but it is still not quite bright when used in a very bright environment or to show highlight of HDR images at 1000-4000 nits of brightness range where HDR images are usually mastered.

Discussing about their color reproduction, both LG OLED G7 and OLED E7 equally has excellent rendition of colors. Both of them already support wide color gamut and their color gamut can cover most of colors in DCI P3 color space. In DCI P3, all three primary colors red, green, and blue can be shown fairly saturated. What delivered by both OLD G7 and OLED E7 even is only a bit less than what offered by Samsung QLED TV as the TV with the best color gamut in 2017. The result, color of HDR 10 images in DCI P3 can be shown fairly accurate. Meanwhile, in Rec.2020, red can blue still can be shown fairly saturated. But unfortunately, like most of modern TVs, they are still not able to show green as saturated as other colors. But even so, when displaying Dolby Vision contents that mastered in Rec.2020, the color produced still looks fairly accurate. Additionally, the color volume of both also can be said great. Except at nearly their peak brightness, overall, they can show their wide color gamut fairly well. Even since they have infinite contrast, this makes both can show their wide color gamut at extremely dark colors where there is no LED TV can do this job as excellent as them. However, at nearly their peak brightness, their color gamut narrows and the colors cannot be shown as saturated as at darker colors. Still about color performance, both LG OLED G7 and OLED E7 already support 10 bit depth of color that means it can deliver more than 1.07 billion shades of colors. As the comparison, TV with 8 bit panel can deliver about 16 million shades of color only. And since HDR images are usually mastered in 10 bit depth of colors, this certainly makes color gradient of HDR images displayed on their screen looks smooth. Some little irregularities might still visible in darker colors or gray scale, but this should not be an issue for you when enjoying movies or TV programs.

The other great performance offered by LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 is about their side viewing angle coverage. As we know, the picture displayed on the screen of most of premium LED TVs looks excellent only if viewed from the center and front, while when viewed from the side, usually started at 20 degrees off center and front, the quality of the picture will be decreased. Meanwhile, on the screen of OLED G7 and OLED E7, the picture will remain look excellent, even when viewed from extremely side angle. Performance of both even is better than LED TV with IPS panel that indeed designed for maximizing the side viewing angle coverage but at the expense of contrast and black levels. Meanwhile, OLED G7 and OLED E7 have both, infinite contrast and wide viewing angle coverage. With this great viewing angle coverage, this makes both of them is as great TV for you who often watch TV from the side or have a plan to use it in a wide room with viewers watch TV from multiple angles.

Motion Handling and 24p Playback

Both LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 also equally have great performance when handling motion blur when playing fast paced contents. Since OLED panel doesn’t has backlight, this certainly makes its pixel response time is extremely low, far lower than the lowest pixel response time reached by LED TV. The result, you will enjoy smooth and clear picture quality with virtually no motion blur when watching your favorite fast movies or sports. A trail following fast moving object might still be visible, but it is very short and faint where most of people might notice about that. Meanwhile, when used to play 24p movies, their performance is also excellent. No matter the frame rate of the movies, whether it is 24p videos from Blu-Ray player, 24p videos via 60i signals like movies from satellite TV, or even via 60p signal like movies from streaming device, all of them will be shown clearly and smoothly without judder. Nevertheless, to remove the judder without adding “soap opera effect” you need to make some certain setting. For 24p movies from Blu Ray, you need to turn on “Real Cinema”, set “Tru Motion” to “User”, and set both slider (De-Blur and De-Judder) to “0”. But for movies via 60i/60p signal, you just need to turn on “Real Cinema” only. Additionally, since both of them equally have 120 Hz native refresh rate panel, this certainly makes both are able to interpolate both lower frame rate contents (30 Fps and 60 fps) fairly well.

Connectivity

OLED E7 Connetivity

OLED G7 Connectivity

As their connectivity, both LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 are also equipped with the same inputs/outputs. As their major connectivity, there are 4 HDMI ports where all of their HDMI ports already support HDMI 2.0a Full Bandwidth and HDCP 2.2, while that support ARC (Audio Return Channel) is HDMI 2. Additionally, both of them are equally equipped with 3 USB ports, 1 USB 3.0 on USB 1 for high speed connection like USB Hard disk and 2 USB 2.0 on USB 2 and USB 3. In addition to HDMI and USB ports, both of them are also equally equipped with 1 Composite or AV In (Including adapter), 1 RF In (Antenna In), 1 Ethernet, 1 Digital Audio Out (Optical). There is no Component In behind them. Meanwhile, both of them also equally have excellent input lags. In Game mode and PC mode, their input lags are below 25 ms at both 1080p and 4K source that means it is good for playing gaming. This might not as low as the input lags of LG SJ8500 or SJ9500, but it is still quite low to play any games so feel responsively without laggy, even for fast paced games which require fast reflexes. Combined to their excellent motion handling and picture quality, this make both LG OLED E7 and OLED G7 are as a great TV for games.

Smart TV

In term of smart TV, both of LOG OLED G7 and OLED E7 also features the same smart TV platform that is WebOS 3.5. In this version, WebOS 3.5 is powered by a new chip that makes its performance is faster and more responsive. Additionally, there are also some additional features that make you more convenience and easier when enjoying smart TV experience with WebOS. Now, it is compatible with 360 degrees videos. Additionally, it now also already support speed dial. This means you can map your favorite apps to the number button of the remote. Meanwhile, in term of User Interface, there are not many changes over previous version. On its home menu, there is still a customizable “strip bar” across the bottom of the screen contains the number of quick access of apps, setting, and inputs. You can rearrange the icons to bring your favorite apps or most used apps up-front and relegate rarely used apps to the back. This allows you to launch your favorite apps, selecting the input or making a setting quicker without leaving “Home Screen”. Meanwhile, discussing about the apps, there are a lot of most popular apps installed including VoD Premium Service like Netflix, Amazon Videos, YouTube, and more, Web Browser, Live TV, Games, and many more. Additionally, there is also LG apps store that provided tons of downloadable apps, games and contents where you can download them directly from your LG TV.

As their controller, they are equipped with the same remote that is LG Magic Remote. The remote has a lot of features that make navigation is easy and simple. In addition to it already support speed dial, this remote also has dedicated button for Amazon Videos and Netflix, allows you to launch these apps without entering the home menu. This remote also equipped with built-in microphone for voice command, allows you to search the content, control some TV functions, and other with your command. The excellent feature offered is about “Point and Click”. In addition it is equipped with a clickable “Scroll wheel” and standard direction pad that allows you to scroll or aim the highlighted menu and select the item by clicking the scroll wheel, there cursor on the screen also can be moved by moving the remote. This function is like on the WII Nintendo’s remote. The other features offered is about the universal ability that means it can be used to control some functions of other devices connected on your TV via HDMI ports.

Conclusion

As we have discussion above, although LG OLED G7 (OLED65G7P) is priced more than a thousand dollar more expensive than OLED E7 (OLED65E7P), but as we have discussed a lot above, they have similar picture quality and performance. Their picture quality is really excellent, as well as the other aspects like side viewing angle, motion handling, and input lags, they are also excellent. This makes both of them become the great TV for mixed usage, whether it is for watching TV shows, movies, sports, or playing games. Meanwhile, coming with HDR technology, both of them offer you to enjoy HDR entertainment with more HDR format options and the quality like the recommended. The only major drawback of both is about their image retentions (burn in) that is bad. Nevertheless, this can be resolved by restarting the TV.

So, which is a better choice between them? As we have discussed a lot above, the main difference between them is about their design and sound performance. OLED E7 comes with fixed built-in sound bar while OLED G7 comes with foldable built-in sound bar. Additionally, the sound bar of OLED G7 also has additional woofer that makes it low-end frequency or bass heard more impressive. There might be still some differences between them, but the impacts are not too significant. With all advantages that offered, OLED G7 is sold more than thousand dollars more expensive than OLED E7. Now the decision comes back to you according to your preferences and budget.

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